
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994                   TAG: 9401270108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

CABINET PICKS GIVEN NEAR-HARMONIOUS OK

Gov. George Allen's Cabinet nominees passed their final confirmation hurdle Wednesday in the General Assembly, but not before one absorbed a final critical blast from a Democrat.

Becky Norton Dunlop, a former Reagan administration staffer and Allen's secretary of natural resources, was accused of knowing little and caring less about the state's environment.

Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, said it was clear after Dunlop's confirmation hearing in the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee that her knowledge of the state's environmental laws and institutions was "anorexic."

"The only move I see by this administration is to make Mickey the state rodent and protected species," Grayson said, referring to Allen's call for $137 million in state borrowing for road improvements in and around the proposed Disney's America theme park in Prince William County.

Grayson said Dunlop's "dogmatism" as a top official in the U.S. Interior Department under Reagan caused "gridlock and drift" on crucial environmental issues, including protection of the spotted owl. She was not reappointed when President Bush succeeded Reagan

Dunlop was defended by Del. John Reid, R-Henrico, who noted that tradition has allowed governors to nominate those who will further their agendas.

"Out of 25,000 employees [in the federal Interior Department], it might not be difficult to find five or six who might disagree with how she administered policy," Reid said.

The House voted 94-2 to confirm Dunlop. Grayson and Del. Robert Hull, D-Falls Church, opposed her confirmation. Allen's other Cabinet choices, some of whom had been the focus of earlier Democratic attacks, won unanimous approval.

House Speaker Thomas Moss, D-Norfolk, said Wednesday that Jerry Kilgore was not the best choice for the job of public safety secretary, and that Dunlop's problems in the Reagan administration were public record. But Moss said the governor was entitled to his picks.

"If he wants a Dunlop, if he wants a Kilgore, that's up to him," Moss said. "It that dog has fleas and they are close enough, the fleas might get on [(Allen]. But that's not my problem."

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994

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